Breakdown of Le sport l'aide quand la situation devient stressante.
quand
when
devenir
to become
l'
him
aider
to help
stressant
stressful
la situation
the situation
le sport
the sport
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Le sport l'aide quand la situation devient stressante.
What does l’ stand for in Le sport l’aide quand la situation devient stressante?
The l’ is the contracted form of the direct object pronoun le or la (meaning “him” or “her”) used before a vowel. Here it refers to the person whom sport helps.
How can I tell if l’ represents le (masculine) or la (feminine)?
You can’t know the gender from l’ alone—it’s intentionally ambiguous before a vowel. Context (a preceding mention of “him” or “her”) tells you whether it’s le or la.
Why is the pronoun placed before the verb in l’aide instead of after it?
In French, object pronouns normally precede the conjugated verb. So l’ (the object pronoun) goes in front of aide, rather than after it as in English.
Could I use lui instead of l’ here?
No. The verb aider takes a direct object, not an indirect one. Lui is the indirect object pronoun (“to him/to her”), but aider quelqu’un requires a direct object pronoun (le/la → l’).
Why do we say le sport (definite article) and not du sport?
When speaking of an activity in general, French uses the definite article: Le sport = “Sport (in general) helps….” Du sport would be partitive, as in faire du sport (“to do some sport”), focusing on some unspecified portion of the activity.
Why is devenir used in quand la situation devient stressante rather than simply être?
Devenir means “to become” and emphasizes the change of state (“when the situation turns/becomes stressful”). Être (“to be”) would state a static condition rather than that transition.
Why is the adjective stressante feminine here?
The noun situation is feminine, so its adjective must agree in gender and number. Hence stressante (feminine singular), not stressant.
Why do we pronounce the final t in sport in this sentence?
Because of liaison: a normally silent final consonant is pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel or mute h. So in sport l’aide, the t is sounded: [spɔʁt-lɛd].
Can I replace quand with lorsque here?
Yes. Lorsque is a slightly more formal synonym of quand, so Le sport l’aide lorsque la situation devient stressante is perfectly correct.
How else could I express “helps” using a different French structure?
You could use venir en aide:
Le sport vient à son aide quand la situation devient stressante.
Here venir en aide à quelqu’un means “to come to someone’s aid.”